Frequently Asked Questions

A Most people find that an open fire will not produce as much warmth as a wood burner because of the heat lost to the air, the metal surrounding the fire in a cast iron stove means that it will keep warmer for loner and be more efficient at heating the rest of the house. It will also use less fuel.

A Wood is far more reactive than other solid fuels and this can be seen when kindling is put in the grate and it ignites at a low temperature. And wood needs little air to burn completely to a fine ash which gives it the edge in combustion efficiency; the less air you have flowing through the stove the less heat you lose up the chimney.

By comparison, coal is not particularly well suited to domestic use. It is burned most efficiently in the "pulverised fuel" process used in power-stations, by which it is ground to a fine powder and sprayed into a combustion chamber and burns rapidly at a very high temperature. But of course this produces a lot of CO2 and doesn’t help keep down your carbon footprint.

A  Peat is a great fuel for cast iron stoves, either on its own, or mixed with wood. It is particularly good for long, slow burns you need in spring and autumn when you simply want to take the chill off the air. The only drawback is that peat produces a large amount of very fine ash so you'll need to de-ash the stove at more frequent intervals.

A Go to www.smokecontrolareas.co.uk to see the up to date list of areas that are affected or ask your dealer for information.

Apple and pear – burning slowly and steadily with little flame but good heat. The scent is also pleasing.

Ash – the best burning wood providing plenty of heat (will also burn green but you should not need to do this!)

Beech and hornbeam – good when well seasoned

Birch – good heat and a bright flame – burns quickly.

Blackthorn and hawthorn – very good – burn slowly but with good heat

Cherry – also burns slowly with good heat and a pleasant scent.

Cypress – burns well but fast when seasoned, and may spit

Hazel – good, but hazel has so many other uses hopefully you won’t have to burn it!

Holly – good when well seasoned

Horse Chestnut – good flame and heating power but spits a lot.

Larch – fairly good for heat but crackles and spits

Maple – good

Oak – very old dry seasoned oak is excellent, burning slowly with a good heat

Pine – burns well with a bright flame but crackles and spits

Poplar – avoid all poplar wood – it burns very slowly with little heat – which is why poplar is used to make matchsticks.

Willow – very good – in fact there is growing interest in biomass production of coppiced willow as a fuel.

A Essentially it is making wood fit for burning – by reducing its water content – usually by leaving it for a period of time in the right conditions. All wood contains water. Freshly-cut wood can be up to 45% water, while well-seasoned firewood generally has a 20–25% moisture content. Well seasoned firewood is easier to light, produces more heat, and burns cleaner.

If you try to burn green wood, the heat produced by combustion must dry the wood before it will burn, using up a large percentage of the available energy in the process. This results in less heat delivered to your home, and gallons of acidic water in the form of creosote deposited in your chimney. This can eat through the chimney lining and cause significant damage. The problem is that as wet wood burns slowly, with little heat, the chimney flue does not get a chance to warm up. There is little draw (air moving up the chimney) which doesn’t help the combustion, and the flue remains a cold surface on which the creosote condenses. Dry wood will burn hot – heating up the flue, creating a fast draw, and shooting the smaller amount of vapours out of the chimney before they get a chance to condense.

Q Can I have a cast iron fire even if I don't have a chimney?

A Yes you can, there are special insulated flues designed for houses with no chimney so you can still enjoy an open cast iron fire.